This is documentation for the next SDK version. For up-to-date documentation, see the latest version (SDK 52).

Expo LivePhoto

GitHub

npm

A library that allows displaying Live Photos on iOS.

iOS

Installation

Terminal
- npx expo install expo-live-photo

If you are installing this in an existing React Native app, start by installing expo in your project. Then, follow the additional instructions as mentioned by the library's README under "Installation in bare React Native projects" section.

Usage

Here's a simple example of expo-live-photo usage combined with expo-image-picker.

LivePhoto
import * as ImagePicker from 'expo-image-picker';
import { LivePhotoAsset, LivePhotoView, LivePhotoViewType } from 'expo-live-photo';
import { useRef, useState } from 'react';
import { View, StyleSheet, Text, Button } from 'react-native';

export default function LivePhotoScreen() {
  const viewRef = useRef<LivePhotoViewType>(null);
  const [livePhoto, setLivePhoto] = useState<LivePhotoAsset | null>(null);

  const pickImage = async () => {
    const result = await ImagePicker.launchImageLibraryAsync({
      mediaTypes: ['livePhotos'],
    });

    if (!result.canceled && result.assets[0].pairedVideoAsset?.uri) {
      setLivePhoto({
        photoUri: result.assets[0].uri,
        pairedVideoUri: result.assets[0].pairedVideoAsset.uri,
      });
    } else {
      console.error('Failed to pick a live photo');
    }
  };

  if (!LivePhotoView.isAvailable()) {
    return (
      <View style={styles.container}>
        <Text>expo-live-photo is not available on this platform 😕</Text>
      </View>
    );
  }

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <LivePhotoView
        ref={viewRef}
        source={livePhoto}
        style={[styles.livePhotoView, { display: livePhoto ? 'flex' : 'none' }]}
        onLoadComplete={() => {
          console.log('Live photo loaded successfully!');
        }}
        onLoadError={error => {
          console.error('Failed to load the live photo: ', error.message);
        }}
      />
      <View style={livePhoto ? styles.pickImageCollapsed : styles.pickImageExpanded}>
        <Button title={livePhoto ? 'Change Image' : 'Pick an image'} onPress={pickImage} />
      </View>
      <Button title="Start Playback Hint" onPress={() => viewRef.current?.startPlayback('hint')} />
      <Button title="Start Playback" onPress={() => viewRef.current?.startPlayback('full')} />
      <Button title="Stop Playback" onPress={() => viewRef.current?.stopPlayback()} />
    </View>
  );
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    alignItems: 'center',
    paddingVertical: 20,
    paddingHorizontal: 40,
  },
  livePhotoView: {
    alignSelf: 'stretch',
    height: 300,
  },
  pickImageExpanded: {
    alignSelf: 'stretch',
    height: 300,
    justifyContent: 'center',
  },
  pickImageCollapsed: {
    marginVertical: 10,
  },
  button: {
    marginVertical: 10,
  },
});

API

import { LivePhotoView } from 'expo-live-photo';

Component

LivePhotoView

Type: React.Element<LivePhotoViewProps>

iOS

contentFit

Optional • Type: ContentFit • Default: 'contain'

Determines how the image should be scaled to fit the container.

  • 'contain' - Scales the image so that its larger dimension fits the target size.
  • 'cover' - Scales the image so that it completely fills the target size.
iOS

isMuted

Optional • Type: boolean • Default: true

Determines whether the live photo should also play audio.

iOS

onLoadComplete

Optional • Type: () => void

Called when the live photo is loaded and ready to play.

iOS

onLoadError

Optional • Type: (error: LivePhotoLoadError) => void

Called when an error occurred while loading.

iOS

onLoadStart

Optional • Type: () => void

Called when the live photo starts loading.

iOS

onPlaybackStart

Optional • Type: () => void

Called when the playback starts.

iOS

onPlaybackStop

Optional • Type: () => void

Called when the playback stops.

iOS

onPreviewPhotoLoad

Optional • Type: () => void

Called when the live photo preview photo is loaded.

iOS

source

Optional • Type: null | LivePhotoAsset

The live photo asset to display.

iOS

useDefaultGestureRecognizer

Optional • Type: boolean • Default: true

Determines whether the default iOS gesture recognizer should be used. When true the playback will start if the user presses and holds on the LivePhotoView.

Inherited Props

Component Methods

iOS

isAvailable()

Determines whether the current device is capable of displaying live photos.

Returns:

boolean

Interfaces

iOS

LivePhotoViewStatics

LivePhotoViewStatics Methods

iOS

isAvailable()

Determines whether the current device is capable of displaying live photos.

Returns:

boolean

Types

iOS

ContentFit

Literal Type: string

Determines how the image should be scaled to fit the container.

  • 'contain' - Scales the image so that its larger dimension fits the target size.
  • 'cover' - Scales the image so that it completely fills the target size.

Acceptable values are: 'contain' | 'cover'

iOS

LivePhotoAsset

A live photo asset.

Note: Due to native limitations, the photo and video parts of the live photo must come from a valid live photo file and be unaltered. When taken, the photo is paired with the video via metadata. If the pairing is broken, joining them into a live photo is impossible.

NameTypeDescription
pairedVideoUristring

The URI of the video part of the live photo.

photoUristring

The URI of the photo part of the live photo.

iOS

LivePhotoLoadError

NameTypeDescription
messagestring

Reason for the load failure.

iOS

LivePhotoViewType

NameTypeDescription
startPlayback(playbackStyle: PlaybackStyle) => void

Start the playback of the video part of the live photo.

stopPlayback() => void

Stop the playback of the video part of the live photo.

iOS

PlaybackStyle

Literal Type: string

Determines what style to use when playing the live photo.

  • 'hint' - A short part of the video will be played to indicate that a live photo is being displayed.
  • 'full' - The full video part will be played.

Acceptable values are: 'hint' | 'full'